Just for a laugh

Molly and her best friend Minnie.
We had to buy an extra large bed for Molly because Minnie took to sleeping in the middle of her old bed. Once Minnie had settled down Molly wouldn't lie on her own bed. Every night she would carry her bed around trying to find a place for it and lie on it before the cat got back on it! As soon as she put the bed down, Minnie would make herself comfortable and Molly would end up sleeping on he floor. Now there is room for both of them. Minnie gets so close she actually rubs her cheek on Mollys face and legs, and Molly will then groom her! Even with the collar on Minnie still gets Molly to groom her.




We took this photo of Molly sitting in my Hubby's canoe on the front lawn. She would do anything to make a spectacle of herself!

Molly's Holiday in Devon. Firstly she wanted to try the surf board! Then she did a bit of swimming.

Followed by a bit of sunbathing
And lastly some under cover work for MI 5!






























Yes .... she really is buried up to her neck. She just lies down and waits to be covered up. I have never met such an amazingly daft labrador in my life before.

Next Gerneration

At long last my girls are starting to enjoy needlecraft. This was Charlie's cross stitch which she made on holiday from a kit. I know they ned frames, but I had to sneak a quick picture while she was out playing.

I had to grit my teeth while she was stitching and try hard not to criticise mistakes. I forgot how hard it is to get kids to keep the stitches all going the same way!

Next I need to get her more interested in knitting!!!

She has mastered basic knitting and seldom drops stitches, but I find it hard to keep her motivated. I need to find some basic patterns for her to try. I remember my Mum encouraging me to knit something from a pattern as soon as I had learned to knit and purl.

Then Emily decided to have a go and bought a magazine in Tavistock with a cross stitch kit attached.

She has nearly completed it without any help whatsoever. It seems to appeal to her mathematical brain.

I have tried to teach her to knit,(She can do basic knit stitch) but I find that anything complicated seems to confuse her. I think its the dyslexia and dyspraxia which prevents her mastering the kneedles!

I had a great laugh today. A great friend gave me a pressie. (I do love pressies when they come out of the blue) It was a knitting book.

But not just any knitting book.

Its a book of patterns for knitting things for dogs, yes you did read it right, dogs!

I know I am totally bonkers but I think if I started knitting for Molly my Hubby would have me locked up! I am sure that there are people out there who would knit for their pet, but I am not one of them. I did have a good laugh though and after hearing something on the radio last week about the benefits of laughter, to your health, I think I must have done myself the power of good. I may make some of the things just to amuse myself!

For now though I have to get on with the baby stuff as my stepdaughter is having braxton hicks contractions already and the midwife has predicted that Ella may come a bit early.

Result Day Angst

For those who didn't know (bearing in mind the media coverage), today was GCSE results day. I never realised how stressful it would be waiting for the dreaded envelope. My eldest was at school this morning waiting with all the others,(Mum was relegated to the car!!!) It was worse than waiting for my own results 20+ years ago. When she came out she was delighted, thank goodness. She managed 2A*'s in PE and Business studies, A in Dance, B in Maths, B in RE, C's in English Language, &Literature, 2C's in science, and C in citizenship. Having battled to get her dyslexia diagnosed and then extra time for her exams we are delighted. She has already enrolled in college to do a B Tech national diploma in Sport. Well thats the proud parent bit done for now. Holiday over, washing in the machine, everything back to normal! Managed to get loads of kntting done. Pics to follow! Completed two baby cardis, 48 blanket squares (which now need sewing together) two scarves and the back of a cardi for someone at work. The latter was really hard work, as it is partially frogged beige 4ply wool. I don't even know if there is going to be enough to finish the cardi. This is one of the baby cardis part way through.It is in a lovely soft cotton and the pattern is called Felicite from the Patons sugar fairies booklet. Once I have sewn it together I will take another picture.

This was my holiday knitting chair. The view from the window was spectacular. I could gaze at the sea while clicking away with the needles. The railings you can see form the edge of the balcony overlooking the garden.

The bay in the background is Thurlestone Sands in Devon.

I would have moved down to Devon tomorrow if the opportunity arose.There are only a few small things in the way. Hubby's job, My job, eldest daughter( who wouldnt move if we paid her!). Not a lot really! I think the dog and youngest daughter would have come with me. Only downside was I didn't find any knitting shops. Although to be fair we didn't spend much time in the shops as Hubby hates browsing.

At long last we have had some rain and I have come back to find my lawn has "greened" again and my plants are looking much better. No need for rain dances, thank goodness! Now I just have to finish the fence painting, bulb planting and preparing for autumn.

And now the Garden

I know its not knitting but I thought I would share some of my garden shot with you. We have been struggling with a drought order in this area for 3 months and some of the plants are starting to feel it.

My garden is on the side of a hill, the top of the garden is almost as high up as the roof!

Now for the tour:


This is my white Budlea in full flower. I love the to see the butterflies on it when the sun comes out.



It is about 1/4 of the way up the garden and sits on the bend of the path to the deck.
















The deck, and summer house form the next level of the garden.
I am only half way to finishing painting the fence next to the pond.
You can't see the pond from this view as it sits behind the sleepers.










This is the view of the pond from above. It is the only part of my garden which is really growing well. Somewhere in there are about 30 goldfish, a few newts and a load of frogs.













I love water lily flowers! Such a shame they only last a few days.

Here's a couple of friends who sit at the top of the steps just outside the back door. You have to have a few mad things in a garden. In addition to these two I have two gnomes, a stone tortoise, a fairy, a stone frog, a stone cat, two giant ladybirds and......

Two giant wasps!

In the front garden I have my miniature weeping willow. I am watering this twice weekly to keep it alive.

It was a present from a very special friend and I couldn't bear to lose it.

It should grow to 8m in height and 8m across. I have already told my daughters that it will be perfect for my grandchildren to sit under.

As you can see the grass is really suffering in this drought. Not much of it has stayed green. The back lawn is even worse as it is in the sun all day, this lawn at least stays shady till after lunch.

All I can say is LET IT RAIN SOOOOON!

If it carries on like this we may be resorting to trying rain dances on the front garden.

Does anyone know the words?

My pets!

I thought I would show anyone out there a few photos of the annimals in my life. BUFFY The baby of the family (age 4)

``
MINNIE

The old lady (age 12)

She has to wear the collar

as she tends to lick off the

fur from her back!





TOFFEE
The old man. (age 13)
He occasionally graces us with a visit, but doesn't appreciate being made to sit still for a photo.




SMOKEY
The shy one.

We adopted smokey when

his owners moved to Spain.

And Finally....................................................... The STAR of the show.....................Bat Dog Or is it Molly the mad labrador in one of her many disguises?

A knitting Photo!

I have at long last mastered the downloading of photos from the camera to the lap-top, and from a file to the Blog. It's a good job I'm sitting down!
Here is a little cardi knitted in Pale blue 'acrylic' (can't remember which one) made for one of the ladies who work with my hubby. I love knitting for babies as it is so quick and they don't complain about it not being the "in thing".
As the mum of two girls I have to be aware of whats in and whats not!, Not that it affects my wardrobe!!
I am having a break at the moment after emptying out the upstairs store room. Long story to follow so you can skip it if you wish!!!
When we moved in to our house in 1989 we had my hubby's two children living with us, but we were already planning our own, so in anticipation of having three kids at home (each wanting their own room) we built a stud-partition wall to create two rooms out of one. The only problem with it was the lack of window, but as it was only used for sleeping it didn,t seem to matter. At first my stepson had this room as it was bigger than the box-room.The new baby had the box room. Then when The eldest moved out we used it as a playroom / spare room. Then came baby number 2 (stepson by now age 13, daughter aged 8 1/2) So new baby had this room. When stepson moved out in 2002 (age 17) we made the spare room smaller, giving daughter a bigger room, and moved baby (by now age 4) into box room! (Are you following this?)The space became a very useful storage area, to keep boxes of photos, toys, games,all the spare bedding and towels,and also houses both girls wardrobes and chest of drawers. The only down side is that being a hoarder I tend to dump stuff in it! It had got to the point where it was full to capacity, and totally disorganised, so as I am on my own today I decided it was time for a mega sort out.

Found a few stashed balls of wool (what a surprise!) and am now planning what to do with them.
I love finding stuff I forgot I had. In my house, and with my memory, that happens quite a lot.

Am I really SAD

I found the two previous blog questions great fun.

Fancy being a daisy! And Chocolate Chip ice-cream.

The scarf knitting is progressing well. I now have over 25 scarves done and hope to make loads of dosh for the MS centre. Has anyone tried selling hand-knit scarves? Any idea how much to charge?

School holidays progressing well. Youngest daughter has just completed a week of fun tennis lessons. She manged to get a prize for improvement! Apparently she has gone from not being able to hit the ball to being able to! I suppose that is a big improvement. Not eactly a budding wimbledon hopeful!!!!
Older daughter has spent the week getting up late and generally chilling out on MSN!
She is off to walk the Cumbria Way next week with her youth hostel group the postellers
Am currently waiting for eldest daughter to download all my photos from my camera, then I will be able to show some of my recent knitting and sewing exploits.

Have to decide which projects to take on holiday. May take the scarf yarn and needles to knit in the car (while hubby drives!), along with the baby blanket squares for my step granddaughter. Also thining of taking some Sirdar Rio with soft cotton, in case I run out!

I love chocolat chip ice cream!

You Are Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

You are kind, popular, and generous. You tend to be successful at anything you try. A social butterfly, you are great at entertaining a crowd. You are most compatible with strawberry ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?